Eelgrass Isopod

Description:

Approximately 1.5 inches from top of head to tips of antenna. 6 pairs of legs. Body looks segmented but not 100% sure. Translucent green in color. 2 small eyes and pincer like mouth parts at one end and 2 antenna at its rear. It's an aquatic organism - marine to brackish water. Swims upright, swimming erect like a blade of grass flowing in the water.

Habitat:

Marine to brackish water, tidal grassy shallow water with light wave action. Gulf of Mexico tidal inlet area. I got this thing from Santa Rosa Sound off the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida

Notes:

I have been working on growing seagrasses as an ongoing science project and since it is winter, the growing season is slowed so I have taken my project indoors and are growing the grasses in a tank. I found this little guy swimming up and down the glass. I, at first, thought it was a stray piece of grass caught in some current but it started to swim against the current. I caught it in a net and snapped this picture while it was crawling on the counter top. It definitely did not like being out of water so I'm sure it isn't a terrestrial bug that crawled and was trapped in the water.